BACKGROUND AND INTRODUCTION
THE PRESIDENT’S GOALS OF TRANSPARENCY AND OPEN GOVERNMENT
On January 21, 2009, shortly after assuming office, the President of the United States issued the
Presidential Memorandum on Transparency and Open Government, 1 setting forth three basic
principles for agencies of the executive branch to pursue as the normal course of business:
transparency, participation and collaboration.
In the months since, he launched various initiatives
promoting greater openness. Among these was
Data.gov, launched in May 2009. Data.gov is a
groundbreaking Web site designed as one-stop
shopping for members of the public, press and
academia seeking access to valuable and interesting
government-created datasets, regardless of originating
agency. Since May, agencies across the government
have added datasets spanning geographic, scientific,
demographic and a myriad of other realms.
On December 8, 2009, the Office of Management and
Budget issued an Open Government Directive, 2
detailing specific timelines, goals and requirements for
each executive branch agency to meet in support of
the President’s goals. Among these were requirements
to create an Open Government Web site, continue
contributing to Data.gov, and develop an Open
Government Plan which lays out the history and
future course of the agency’s work in support of the
goal of a more open and transparent government.

HOW TO
CONTACT US
THIS DOCUMENT AND MUCH MORE
INFORMATION IS ONLINE AT
www.defense.gov/open
SUGGESTIONS AND QUESTIONS
ABOUT OPEN GOVERNMENT?
E-Mail us at open@osd.mil
OTHER QUESTIONS?
Go to www.defense.gov and click on
“Contact Us.”

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE INVOLVEMENT
The Department’s work to further the President’s vision began in early 2009 as Data.gov was
developed and launched and has grown continually since, in parallel to efforts of the Federal
Government as a whole. What began as an informal partnership between the Office of the
Assistant Secretary of Defense (Public Affairs) and Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense
(Networks & Information Integration)/DoD Chief Information Officer has led, upon issuance of
the Open Government Directive, to a more formal governance structure under the leadership of the
Office of the Deputy Chief Management Officer, as designated by the Deputy Secretary of Defense.
You can read a more detailed chronology in the section called “Open Government Timeline and
Milestones.”

OUR PRINCIPLES OF INFORMATION
The Department’s “Principles of Information” underlie our wide-ranging efforts to increase
transparency and openness. The Principles 3 say in part that:
“It is Department of Defense policy to make available timely and accurate
information so that the public, the Congress, and the news media may assess and
understand the facts about national security and defense strategy. Requests for
information from organizations and private citizens shall be answered
quickly…Information shall be made fully and readily available, consistent with
statutory requirements, unless its release is precluded by national security constraints
or valid statutory mandates or exceptions.”
As the Open Government Directive notes, all data releases must be “subject to valid privacy,
confidentiality, security, or other restrictions” under existing law and policies. The mission of the
Department makes us particularly aware of the need to ensure transparency does not compromise
national security or the safety of our personnel. Additionally, given the interaction we have with
millions of individuals (service members past and present, civilian employees and dependents),
privacy protection is also of paramount importance. As we operate under the presumption of
openness, every potential release of data by the Department must continue to be scrutinized and
evaluated for its potential to – however unintentionally – jeopardize safety, security or privacy
standards.
A TEAM APPROACH
In the spirit of the Open Government Directive, this document represents a collaborative effort of
individuals and organizations within and outside of the Department of Defense. Under the
coordination of the Office of the Deputy Chief Management Officer, more than a dozen entities
within the Department assisted in the brainstorming, writing and editing process. Additionally,
numerous outside voices (e.g., experts, other government agencies and outside groups) contributed
both formally and informally to this plan. For a more complete list, please see “Contributors to this
Plan.”
As a team, we face the challenge of implementing this plan across an agency of immense scope. We
have operations across the globe, including three Military Departments, 10 Combatant Commands,
18 Defense Agencies and 10 Field Activities. We have over three million employees (uniformed and
civilian). Crafting and implementing policies that will be effective throughout this complex and
diverse Department will require our ongoing attention and regular adjustments.
ENCOURAGING INNOVATION
As we look ahead to increasing openness and transparency at the Department, we will continue to
build upon our rich history of expanding the frontiers of technology. The satellite-based Global
Positioning System (GPS), originally developed to enable accurate navigation for the military, has
successfully been applied to a variety of civilian uses not contemplated when it was first launched.
With devices now widely available that can calculate driving directions and even measure the
distance between two points on a golf course, GPS is an example of how industry can leverage the
Department’s investments in ways that alter the world as we know it.

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Over 40 years ago, the precursor to today's Internet was developed at what is now known as the
Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). In December 2009, we marked the
anniversary of the occasion with a competition designed to explore how broad-scope problems can
be tackled using social networking tools. In a remarkable demonstration of the Internet's evolution
and capability to foster collaboration, a team from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology won a
$40,000 cash prize by successfully locating ten large, red balloons less than nine hours after they
were launched at undisclosed locations across the United States.
Utilizing the Department’s infrastructure and resources to their fullest potential will be central in
delivering on our commitment to Open Government. We have included detailed descriptions of
some of our current efforts to encourage innovation in the section entitled “Paths Toward
Innovation” on page 28.
THE ROLE OF THE PUBLIC
As further detailed in later sections of this plan, we solicited and seriously considered the input of
the public at large and particularly of the open government community. Through the public
participation tool on www.defense.gov/open, over 90 ideas were suggested.
A LIVING DOCUMENT
This plan is by its nature unfinished and is intended as a starting point and baseline, not a restrictive
framework. As we – and our colleagues at other agencies and in the public – move forward with
implementing the Open Government Directive, new ideas will be generated, pitfalls discovered,
challenges overcome and technologies embraced. We intend to continue dialogue on the best way
forward, and adjust our actions and plans accordingly.

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OPEN GOVERNMENT AT THE DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
PARTICIPATION: OUR APPROACH TO PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT
PUBLIC ROLE IN OPEN GOVERNMENT ACTIVITIES
You, the public, had a direct voice in the creation of this Open Government Plan, a clear sign of the
increasing importance of public engagement and community relations programs at the Department
of Defense. We encouraged public interaction on the Department’s homepage (www.defense.gov)
and made it the central feature of our Open Government homepage. We also promoted our
activities using the Department’s presence on Facebook and Twitter.
To solicit public input and suggestions for this plan, the Department launched its Open
Government Web site (www.defense.gov/open) in early February, including a platform for the
public to suggest ideas, comment and vote on each other’s ideas. As of April 7th, members of the
public made 92 suggestions, over 100 comments on others’ suggestions and voted over 600 times
for or against ideas. The Department is closely reviewing ideas posted to the site, and is committed
to carrying out several of the most popular suggestions. Specifically:
Web Site Directory. One user suggested an improved directory of the Department’s Web sites allowing
visitors to Defense.gov to easily find content. As part of an upcoming revision to the Defense.gov
homepage, we will be working to make the vast amounts of content more easily navigable by visitors
not familiar with the complex organizational structure of the Department.
Better Contract Data. Another user suggested “a regularly updated dataset with contract information
available for download,” as an improvement on existing, regularly updated contract information
posted on the Department’s Web site. While massive amounts of this type of information are
available in various places on the Internet, we will work to create easier access to easy-to-digest,
machine-readable, and regularly-updated contract and spending data on our Web site.
Casualty Data. Currently the Department routinely releases information about each military casualty
in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom (name, rank, service,
hometown, unit, etc.). However, currently there is not a database or spreadsheet consolidating
detailed casualty information in one place, making it unnecessarily complicated to examine and
analyze the dataset as a whole. In response to public suggestions and interest, we will provide the
data in a more accessible format in the near future.
CURRENT OPPORTUNITIES TO ENGAGE
There are many existing programs and Internet presences you can use to learn more about the
Department of Defense, its leadership and operation, and to connect with service members.
For example, www.defense.gov/news has a wide range of regularly-updated news items, and
http://www.pentagonchannel.mil/ has video of events with the Department’s top leadership. We
also sponsor conferences for civilian public opinion leaders to learn more about the Department,
conduct tours of the Pentagon and offer direct exposure to service members and Department
equipment with flyovers, musical performances and displays all across the country.
LOOKING AHEAD
We are increasingly using the Internet to make it easier to learn about the Department. Our new
social media policy provides for increased use of tools like Twitter, Facebook and more. In the near
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future, we will also have a centralized Web-based system you can use to request flyovers, bands and
other military support for community events. We will also continue to solicit and actively consider
your ideas for openness and transparency at www.defense.gov/open.
TRANSPARENCY: PROVIDING DIRECT ACCESS TO DATA AND INFORMATION
While the Open Government Directive puts new focus on our efforts to be transparent and
accountable to taxpayers and the public, we already have many existing processes and programs to
offer the public ways to access information about the Department’s operations. In this section, you
can find a brief overview of key resources, with considerably more detail available in the section
entitled “In Depth: Transparency” on page 17.
FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA) REQUESTS
FOIA is at the core of government transparency. Last year alone, the Department’s FOIA
organizations received over 68,000 requests for information from the public for records on topics
ranging from spending to manpower, correspondence to reports, travel files and wartime activities.
The Department also continued to reduce long-standing backlogs, and post commonly requested
documents, including copies of contracting materials. For more details, see their Web sites
(www.defense.gov/pubs/foi/ and http://www.defense.gov/pubs/foi/dfoipo/), or the section
entitled “FOIA Requests” on page 17 in this document.
DATA.GOV
The Department has been a participant in the Data.gov program since it was launched in the spring
of 2009, and is ramping up efforts. To date, we have released information about the Federal Voting
Assistance Program for military and civilians overseas, as well as demographic data about service
members and detailed logs about FOIA requests. We are in the midst of creating a formal, ongoing
process for reviewing and posting datasets. Organizations throughout the Department will seek out
datasets and data access tools currently available to the public and in many cases actually posted on
public Web sites, but may be difficult to locate.
Where possible, we will provide data in multiple formats, including raw files users can analyze
themselves. We will be working to catalog many such data sources and integrate them into the
Data.gov posting process, creating one-stop shopping for the public. During this process, we are
carefully considering those datasets that have been a topic of interest in the past or seem most likely
to be of interest and value to the public, the media, academics, the research and development
community and open government advocates. We will also be soliciting suggestions from our own
internal community, which have more detailed knowledge of possible datasets than any individual or
organization.
You can read a more detailed explanation of processes we are setting up within the Department
under “Our Plan for Data.gov” on page 9.
TRACKING SPENDING: RECOVERY.GOV AND USASPENDING.GOV
Given the size of our budget ($680 billion in FY 2010), we know it is especially important to be able
to show where and how we are spending taxpayer dollars. We provide detailed information
(amounts, dates, vendor names and more) about contracts, grants and other spending to the public
through USASpending.gov, and in the future we will include even more data such as subcontractor
information.

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For spending funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) (over $7
billion related to our Department), you can look at detailed reports and weekly updates at
www.defense.gov/recovery.
If you’re interested in more detail about exactly what information is available now and is coming in
the future, check out “Recovery.gov” and “USASpending.gov” on pages 22 and 23, respectively.
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (IT) DASHBOARD
You can view progress and status of over 60 major information technology investments underway at
the Department of Defense by visiting the IT Dashboard at
http://it.usaspending.gov/?q=content/investment&buscid=3548. The Dashboard shows you the
cost of each project and how it is progressing. For more on this program, read the “Information
Technology (IT) Dashboard” section on page 24.
E-RULEMAKING
By visiting www.regulations.gov, you can see and comment on rules the Department of Defense and
other Federal Agencies are proposing which may affect the public. For example, recent proposed
rules from our Department include one providing details on changes in the TRICARE healthcare
program and another describing how we will process applications under the Homeowners
Assistance Program. You can read more about our involvement in this public process in the section
entitled “eRulemaking” on page 21.
DECLASSIFICATION OF DEPARTMENT INFORMATION
In December 2009, President Obama issued an Executive Order to increase the speed and efficiency
of declassifying over 400 million pages of historical records across the government, many of which
involve the Department of Defense and are of interest to academia, the media and the public at
large. For example, in late 2009, the National Archives released 63 cubic feet (about 60 boxes) of
previously classified records of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff from 1959 through 1965, as well as
various Navy and Army records. You can read more about our work to make historical records
more easily available under “Declassification of Department Information” on page 20.
RECORDS MANAGEMENT
We can make information available to the public – both now and in the future – only if the material
is organized and managed effectively. To that end, the Department issued policy guidance and
works with the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) to ensure valuable records
are carefully maintained for future use. For more, see “Records Management” on page 17.
CONGRESSIONAL REQUESTS FOR INFORMATION
The Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Legislative Affairs is responsible for
coordinating all requests for information from Congress including senior officials testifying at
hearings. For more details about how we provide information to Congress (and indirectly to the
public), you can see their Web site at http://la.defense.gov/, or see “Congressional Requests for
Information” on page 20.

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COLLABORATION: TOOLS TO ENHANCE TEAMWORK
The Department has been a long-time user of collaboration tools, ranging from instant messaging to
document sharing and wikis. These tools are used within the Department across the globe and by
partners inside and outside of government to promote effectiveness, transparency and innovation.
We are also undertaking a long-term plan to migrate to a standard platform for collaboration for
maximizing efficiency and utility. The Wikified Army Field Guide is among the most interesting and
innovative initiatives. It is giving battle-tested military personnel at every level direct input into the
revision of manuals for Army tactics, techniques and procedures, creating a more effective end
product for our soldiers.
Also noteworthy are collaboration platforms used to support rescue and relief efforts, for example
after the Haiti earthquake in January 2010. We helped coordinate work both inside and outside the
Department using the All Partners Access Network and Transnational Information Sharing
Cooperation (TISC) tool, two innovative solutions developed within the Department for use in
specifically these sorts of situations. You can find more examples of our collaboration initiatives in
the section entitled “In Depth: Collaboration” on page 26.
FLAGSHIP INITIATIVE
On April 9, 2009, President Obama announced a groundbreaking vision for the future of electronic
health data sharing: the Virtual Lifetime Electronic Record (VLER). VLER “will ultimately contain
administrative and medical information from the day an individual enters military service,
throughout their military career and after they leave the military.” VLER is a strategic objective for
both the Department of Defense and the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), and we have
chosen to highlight it as our Open Government flagship initiative for collaboration. This
standardized and secure exchange of information will allow for unprecedented, seamless delivery of
both healthcare and benefits for our nation’s service members and veterans by the two largest
Departments in the United States government.
About a quarter of the nation's population is potentially eligible for VA benefits and services
because they are veterans, family members, or survivors of veterans. VLER is based on open
national standards, and uses the framework of the Nationwide Health Information Network
(NHIN) developed under the leadership of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
VLER will allow for the safe and secure sharing of information not only between the Department of
Defense and VA, but between government and the private sector, where more than 50 percent of
service members and veterans receive their care.
The goal of our flagship initiative is to provide seamless access to electronic records for millions of
service members and veterans. The Department of Defense and VA are working with HHS and
other federal and private sector partners to create an open-architecture, standards-based capability to
bring health and benefits delivery into the 21st century.

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IN DEPTH: OUR PLAN
In the following pages, you can read in much greater detail about many of the programs and
initiatives we previously covered, as well as how we wrote this plan. You can find links to more
Web sites you may find helpful and interesting, as well as explanations of exactly how we are
organizing and communicating Open Government across the entire Department.
CONTRIBUTORS TO THIS PLAN
In the spirit of the Open Government Directive, this document represents a collaborative effort of
individuals and organizations within and outside of the Department of Defense. In the Department,
the Office of the Deputy Chief Management Officer was designated as overall coordinator for Open
Government efforts and oversaw drafting of the plan. The Offices of the Assistant Secretary of
Defense (Public Affairs) (OASD(PA)) and the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Networks &
Information Integration)/DoD Chief Information Officer (OASD(NII))/DoD CIO) continued
their substantial roles in our Open Government efforts, leading the work on many sections of this
document.
Other Department of Defense organizations contributing to both the document and underlying
initiative include the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Legislative Affairs); the Office of
the Undersecretary of Defense (Intelligence); the Office of the Undersecretary of Defense
(Comptroller); and the Office of the Director of Administration and Management. Various other
Components of the Office of the Secretary of Defense and the Military Departments are also
involved in the Department’s overall efforts on this front, contributing their resources and subject
matter expertise.
Leaders inside and outside the Department were also a critical resource in developing this plan,
serving as sounding boards for challenges, sources for specific ideas and as inspiration to think
creatively. Recent months have seen workshops, conferences, interagency meetings and online
discussions about Open Government, bringing together a diverse community of interest. At senior
and junior levels, federal employees, policymakers, Open Government advocates and technology
experts brainstormed on the course forward, benefiting from each others’ unique perspectives,
experiences and skill sets. The leadership and staff of the Executive Office of the President’s Office
of Science and Technology and Office of Management and Budget, as well as the staff at the
General Services Administration, were invaluable in charting the course ahead and providing some
of the necessary infrastructure in getting underway.
OPEN GOVERNMENT TIMELINE AND MILESTONES
In December 2009, upon issuance of the Open Government Directive, the Deputy Secretary of
Defense designated the Office of the Deputy Chief Management Officer as the coordinating office
for the Department’s implementation of Open Government efforts. Staff of that office,
OASD(PA), OASD(NII)/DoD CIO and others worked to meet the Directive’s aggressive deadlines
to add high-value datasets to Data.gov by January 22, 2010, launch an Open Government Web site
(www.defense.gov/open) by February 6, 2010, solicit ideas from the public and begin building a
governance structure for ongoing efforts.
We also designated Mr. Michael J. McCord (Principal Deputy Under Secretary of Defense
(Comptroller)) as our high-level senior official accountable for the quality and objectivity of, and
internal controls over, federal spending data disseminated by the Department to the public.

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OUR PLAN FOR DATA.GOV
The Department of Defense has been committed to supporting the Open Government Initiative
from its inception, and is strongly participating in a wide range of new federal initiatives promoting
transparency and accountability. The Department was one of the early participants in the Data.gov
program in the spring of 2009, and we have since posted 194 tools 4 and 10 raw datasets. 5 We have
long had many public oriented Web sites at the enterprise level such as Defense.gov, as well as those
down through the chain of command to installation, squadron, battalion and individual ship levels.
A foundational principle associated with our net-centric information sharing vision is to consider
information as a strategic asset, essential in making data visible, accessible and understandable in a
secure way across the Department and with mission partners. Very early in the Data.gov process,
the Department recognized key internal partnerships were required to support the process of
populating datasets and tools. The Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs (ASD (PA))
and the DoD CIO joined together to help develop data identification, release and submission
processes. These two offices have been active participants in the federal Data.gov Working Group
and several Data.gov related interagency working groups.
However, data stewardship and responsibility is distributed throughout the Department. We
recognize the need to engage senior leadership in supporting this (as well as all of the other) Open
Government initiatives.) Under the leadership of the Office of the Deputy Chief Management
Officer, the Department is in the process of establishing an internal working group with
representatives from across various Components to more fully and effectively support its future
participation in Data.gov specifically, and Open Government in general. This working group will be
the conduit to ensuring candidate data/tool suggestions (either internally or externally generated) are
evaluated, and action is taken as appropriate. Another key function of this working group is to
identify data (or tools) that Department organizations already have publicly released which can and
should be linked into Data.gov for greater public visibility.
Populating Data.gov will be an ongoing requirement. Our objective is to institutionalize and insert
the population of Data.Gov into existing business processes to the greatest extent feasible. We will
enable this at the lowest possible levels, while still addressing security, privacy, information quality
and resource requirements. Ensuring national security and privacy concerns are adequately
addressed, particularly the risks as a result of data aggregation, is a major challenge which must be
successfully addressed at the federal level as well as internally within the Department.
GOALS AND TARGET AUDIENCES
While it is impossible to know precisely what users will find most interesting and helpful, there are
several groups in the Data.gov audience we are specifically considering as we move forward:
General Public. The general public of American citizens and taxpayers are the fundamental core
intended audience for our Data.gov contributions and Open Government efforts as a whole. While
soliciting input and requests directly from citizens, we also plan to proactively release datasets on
Data.gov features a tool catalog to provide the public with simple, application-driven access to Federal data with
hyperlinks. This catalog features widgets, data mining and extraction tools, applications and other services.

4

5 Data.gov features a catalog with the ability to instantly view or download platform-independent, machine readable data
(e.g., XML, CSV, KMZ/KML, or shape file formats), as well as a link to a metadata page specific to the respective
dataset. The metadata pages have additional links to authoritative source information from the sponsoring agency's
website including any pertinent agency technical documentation regarding the dataset.

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topics of major interest in the news and to the public. These are the types of datasets we would also
highlight on our Open Government Web site to make them even more readily available.
Additionally, we have a range of information publicly available on Web sites in a variety of formats
which can be leveraged by Data.gov. For example, the United States Army Corps of Engineers
(http://www.iwr.usace.army.mil/) and the Military Health Program
(http://www.health.mil/Education_And_Training.aspx) both maintain public Web sites with
significant amounts of information.
Media. In terms of their ability to analyze and utilize complex data, the media audience often
represents a middle point between a casual citizen user and scientific or technical experts with
specific and advanced interests. The media is often more interested in detailed versions or analyses
of the same high-profile data popular with the general public.
Scientific, Academic and Business Communities. Given the vast Defense infrastructure and budgetary
resources devoted to technical, scientific and medical research, it is likely non-Department of
Defense entities may have interest in and find new value in access to some of the data underlying
these efforts. For example, access to detailed (anonymized) medical study data could be of benefit
to medical and pharmaceutical researchers and clean energy work undertaken in the military could
help stimulate new ideas in the commercial sector. These potential users also are likely to have the
capability to utilize large and complex datasets with more nuances than users without the same level
of subject expertise.
Open Government Groups. In addition to their inherent interest in any data shedding light on the way
government operates and makes decisions, this community is often particularly interested in
information related to agency business and spending practices. This could range from both the
“core” functions of the Department such as weapons acquisition budgets to funds used for staff
travel and office supplies. Their focus on improving efficiencies and rooting out waste may be
greatly informed by access to better information about the way money is spent at the Department of
Defense, which may in turn help the Department in its efforts to be more cost-effective and budgetconscious in an era of scarce resources.
Other Department of Defense Users. With employees, service members and contractors in thousands of
locations across the globe and in complex organizations, users within the Department may find data
of value to them from other parts of the agency which they were not aware of previously. Any
developments of that sort may lead to greater collaboration between the Department’s organizations
and make the Department more productive and efficient.
INVENTORY OF HIGH-VALUE INFORMATION PROCESS
Candidate datasets and tools from across the Department must be identified for inclusion in
Data.gov. Many suggestions should be internally generated (i.e., by data stewards from across the
Department) by identifying what information/tools are already publicly released (in some format),
or by reviewing FOIA released information for appropriateness for posting. However, we must also
be able to address externally-generated data suggestions (e.g., from the public.) The Office of the
Assistant Secretary of Defense (Public Affairs) will manage this process once it is established.
In all cases, a variety of data formats will be sought, with the goal of making as much information as
possible available in as many ways as possible:
Raw Data. When possible, we will provide the underlying raw dataset with documentation required
to understand its layout and make use of it.

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Existing Online Tools. There are many existing online “tools” which allow users to build sophisticated
queries online. 6 These will be submitted to, and catalogued for Data.gov, even if it is impractical to
publish the underlying dataset in raw form. In many instances, such tools will make data more
accessible to the average user.
Major Sources of Statistical Reports. In other cases, Department organizations routinely post numerous
tables of data on their Web sites in Adobe Acrobat format, or other non-raw formats. These often
take the form of statistical abstracts or annual compendiums presenting important data from many
different angles. As with online tools, these will be linked to Data.gov as a resource, regardless of
whether it is practical to also provide the underlying raw data. 7
REVIEW PROCESS
Generally, each major organization of the Department will be responsible for review and clearance
of candidate datasets. To the extent possible, each Component will leverage their existing security
and public affairs review processes while the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public
Affairs will be responsible for ensuring appropriate policies and procedures are followed prior to
posting a dataset to Data.gov.
Key considerations include ensuring data is authoritative and of high quality, that there are no
national security or privacy concerns/implications (including explicit review of risk from aggregation
with other existing public data), and whether it is appropriate for public release. While we have
existing processes in several of these areas, a key challenge in proceeding is developing and
implementing a strategy of how to confidently address the risk of data aggregation in the data
vetting/approval process.
Approval decisions should be made at the lowest possible level by authorized and trained personnel;
approval decisions escalated to senior levels should be by exception, where they can be resolved at
periodic sessions by leadership from relevant organizations.
A special working group will be formed to recommend how the Department should address data
aggregation risks before data is made publicly available. This working group will include, at a
minimum, senior representatives from: the Offices of the Under Secretary of Defense (Intelligence);
Office of the General Counsel of the Department of Defense, Director of Administration and
Management; DoD CIO, Deputy Chief Management Officer, Assistant Secretary of Defense (Public
Affairs); and the Departments of the Army, Navy and Air Force.
POSTING PROCESS
A final step for any dataset is the technical process for formatting data appropriately, populating
metadata and submitting the dataset and metadata for actual publication on Data.gov. Similar to the
review process, we expect data stewards themselves – those who have the most direct knowledge of
the material – will be key participants in this stage. Technical support and guidance will be provided
by DoD CIO.
Data stewards are responsible for ensuring:

NEXT STEPS AND MILESTONES
Our long term objective is to institutionalize Data.gov population as part of existing/normal
business processes by leveraging and building upon existing policy and processes, and enabling
execution and authority at the lowest possible level for efficiency.
Critical next steps in accomplishing our objectives are:
•
•

Assigning Component roles and responsibilities in authoritative memoranda and other
issuances, and
Building and formalizing processes and tools to accomplish activities previously described
(especially those addressing data aggregation risks).

Working Group. Each major organization within the Department will be tasked with assigning a
senior official to participate in a working group under the direction of the Office of the Deputy
Chief Management Officer.
For their respective organization, that official will serve as focal point for recommended datasets,
and for the review and clearance process within their part of the Department.
In addition, as a group, officials will work on:
•
•
•
•

Developing a plan capitalizing on data already used in “tools” that exist on the Department’s
public Web sites
Identifying high value data that has not been released in any form
Determining a priority release protocol based on value to the public and availability
Determine the process to be followed in response to public comments and/or
recommendations

Initial Planned Milestones. The Department is committed to improving transparency through the use of
Data.gov and the publication of content on our own Open Government Web site. In the near term,
we plan to track our progress against the following milestones:
•
•
•

Convene Working Group
Launch internal Working Group collaboration Web site
Promulgate Data.gov submission process

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May 1, 2010
July 1, 2010
OPEN GOVERNMENT PLAN

•
•
•

Identify first set of additional high value datasets
Identify first set of new, previously unpublished datasets
Publish the next revision of our Open Government Plan

July 1, 2010
August 1, 2010
October 1, 2010

MEASURING SUCCESS
We will monitor several metrics as indicators of our success in implementing Open Government
throughout the Department. Though we expect to identify more sophisticated metrics over time,
initially these measurements will include:
•

Total number of Open Government suggestions received from external stakeholders

•

Total number of Open Government suggestions received from internal stakeholders

•

Total number of datasets/tools identified for possible posting on Data.gov

•

Total number of datasets/tools successfully posted on Data.gov

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IN DEPTH: PARTICIPATION
PAST AND PRESENT
Largely under the auspices of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Public Affairs) and public affairs
organizations of the Military Services, the Department provides substantial opportunities for the
public to learn about, and interact with, Departmental operations, leadership and personnel.
Daily Online News Updates. Press advisories, releases, transcripts, announcements of upcoming key
events and daily overviews are regularly updated at http://www.defense.gov/news/news.aspx.
Online Video. Video of briefings, speeches, interviews and presentations by the Department’s senior
leadership are routinely made available and archived on the Pentagon Channel’s Web site at
http://www.pentagonchannel.mil/.
Senior Leadership Travel. Travel by Secretary Gates and other senior leaders is regularly highlighted at
http://www.defense.gov/home/features/travels/.
Community Relations Programs. The Community Relations Web site at http://www.ourmilitary.mil/
provides resources for connecting with troops.
Capitol Hill Hearings. The Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Legislative Affairs) maintains
a public calendar of Department officials testifying on Capitol Hill at http://la.defense.gov/.
Joint Civilian Orientation Conference. The Joint Civilian Orientation Conference (JCOC)
(http://jcoc.dod.mil/) is a program sponsored by the Secretary of Defense for civilian public
opinion leaders interested in expanding their knowledge of military and national defense issues.
JCOC is the oldest existing Pentagon outreach program, having been held more than 76 times since
1948.
Department Publications and Policies. At http://www.dtic.mil/whs/directives/whats_new.html, the
public can track new Department issuances (directives, instructions and similar materials) explaining
internal policies and mechanisms of the Department.
Ceremonial and Patriotic Events. At well over 10,000 events a year, military color guards, musical units,
aviation units and other organizations provide public performances across the nation, including
patriotic openers to public events, flyovers, concerts and static displays of military hardware.
Tours of the Pentagon and Beyond. The Pentagon Tours program annually brings over 100,000 visitors to
the Department’s headquarters. Various commands, installations and ships also hold programs
allowing the public to more closely connect with the Department and its personnel.
Public Queries. The Office of the Secretary of Defense’s Public Communications office annually
responds to over 30,000 comments and requests for information from the general public.
IN THE FUTURE
The Department continues to enhance its community engagement efforts, particularly by utilizing
Internet-based technologies.
DEFENSE OUTREACH REQUEST SYSTEM
By late 2010, a new Department-wide Web-based system will allow members of the public to
request aviation (e.g., flyovers) and musical support for public events and track the status of their
requests. Currently requests must be submitted to each Military Service individually.
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SOCIAL MEDIA PRESENCE
The Department will continue to expand and improve its online presence, providing a wealth of
information about the operations of the Department and its personnel. New policy signed in late
February of this year provides for increased use of social media tools like Facebook and Twitter by
individual military personnel, offices, commands and other organizations across the Department and
the Globe. These initiatives, as they continue to evolve and develop, will allow growing interaction
between the military, their families and the public at large, providing increased visibility of the
functioning of the Department.
Communication Within and Across DoD (Enterprise 2.0)
•

The U.S. European Command Commander uses social networking services to support and
shape strategic communications about national and theater objectives.

•

The 10th Mountain Division’s “Mountain Sound-Off” blog directly solicits feedback and
ideas about Army life from the Ft. Drum community.

The Defense Information Systems Agency conducted a Drupal implementation social
networking pilot called DEFStar to gauge interest and usage of collaboration tools across the
Department.

Communication With Other Government Agencies and Non-Government Organizations
•

The U.S. Northern Command J623 is using iGoogle, Twitter, and Facebook to develop a
test platform to serve as a Common Operational Picture. The Global Command and
Control System is experimenting with this as an inexpensive option to work with for remote
personnel and state, local and tribal government partners who cannot access the NonClassified Internet Protocol Router Network to respond to emergencies and incidents.

Cross-Combatant Command collaboration with state/local/non-governmental organizations
during stabilization and reconstruction missions, connecting persons in emergency or postdisaster situations and public diplomacy efforts.

•

National Defense University’s Sustainable Technologies, Accelerated Research Transportable Infrastructures for Development and Emergency Support project uses social
networking sites to more efficiently coordinate and rapidly deploy Department of Defense,
government agencies, non-governmental organizations and other stakeholders to
humanitarian assistance disaster relief efforts, e.g., Hurricane Katrina.

The Office of the Secretary of Defense (Public Affairs) connects bloggers with Department
leadership through the Bloggers Roundtable program in order to reach niche audiences.

•

The Navy Seals maintain active dialogue on their Facebook page to engage directly with fans
and potential recruits through notes and polls.

•

The North American Aerospace Defense – United States Northern Command Headquarters
Public Affairs transfers information from the Non-Classified Internet Protocol Router
Network to various social networking sites (i.e., Facebook, Linkedln, Twitter, etc.) to
provide general public information and education on N-NC issues and activities.

•

Northern Command Public Affairs uses social networking sites, including Facebook,
Linkedln, and Twitter, as two-way communication channels to inform, educate and discuss
key Department activities and incidents with the public, and is preparing to use for future
cross-agency crisis-response.

•

Army Wounded Warriors Program uses social networking sites to proactively reach out to
medically-retired soldiers as well as their family members, service providers, and community
groups who often have limited military experience.

ONGOING USE OF ONLINE SUGGESTION SYSTEM
Building on the use of the IdeaScale tool, the Department will continue using this type of
technology to solicit and consider suggestions from the public on issues of openness and
transparency, as well as for discussion of other major topics of public interest as they emerge.

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IN DEPTH: TRANSPARENCY
RECORDS MANAGEMENT
The Department publishes and maintains a policy directive, Department of Defense Directive
5015.02, 8 which provides overarching records management guidance for all Department
Components. 9 In turn, Components have their own subordinate policy documents which locally
implement the Department-wide issuance. Subordinate commands and organizations may have
even more specific published guidance. Each of these is compliant with policy and regulations from
the National Archives and Records Administration.
Office of the Secretary of Defense, Defense Agencies, and Certain Field Activities: For these organizations,
additional guidance is provided by Administrative Instruction 15, available at
http://www.dtic.mil/whs/directives/corres/ins2.html. The Web site at
http://www.dtic.mil/whs/esd/rdd/records-management.htm provides additional materials and
links.
Combatant Commands: In the case of Combatant Commands (which are responsible for either a
geographic area (e.g., U.S Pacific Command) or a functional area (e.g., U.S. Transportation
Command), the Office of the Chairman of the Joint Chief of Staff provides records management
guidance through Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Instruction 5760.01A, available at
http://www.dtic.mil/cjcs_directives/cdata/unlimit/5760_01.pdf.
Other Department Organizations. Other major components with records management publications and
Web sites include:
•

The Department of the Army’s Records Management and Declassification Activity can be
found at https://www.rmda.army.mil/.

•

The Department of the Navy’s records management program can be found at
http://www.doncio.navy.mil/PolicyView.aspx?ID=707.

•

The Department of the Air Force’s key documents for records management include AFI 33321, Authentication of Air Force Records, AFI 33-322, Records Management Program,
AFMAN 33-363, Management of Records, and AFI 33-364, Records Disposition,
Procedures and Responsibilities. They are all available at http://www.e-publishing.af.mil/.

FOIA REQUESTS
Overall Structure. The Department has a very large and decentralized FOIA Program, with operations
at hundreds of FOIA offices worldwide. The Department’s Chief FOIA Officer is the Director of
Administration and Management in the Office of the Secretary of Defense. This senior Department
official directs and oversees the Department’s FOIA Program, ensuring compliance with policies
and procedures governing administration of the program. The overall program Web site, including

8

Available at http://www.dtic.mil/whs/directives/corres/pdf/501502p.pdf

“Components” include: the Office of the Secretary of Defense; the Military Departments (Departments of the Army,
Navy (which includes the Marine Corps) and Air Force; the Office of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff;
Combatant Commands; the Office of the Inspector General of the Department of Defense; Defense Agencies, and
Defense Field Activities. For more on the Department’s organization, see
http://www.defense.gov/pubs/dod101/dod101.html#organized.

9

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governing documents, reports and assistance in making requests can be found at
http://www.dod.gov/pubs/foi/dfoipo/index.html.
Additionally, the Defense Freedom of Information Policy Office serves as the responsible action
office for providing FOIA policy guidance to the Department of Defense on behalf of the Director
of Administration and Management.
Where to Make Requests. Reporting to the Chief FOIA Officer are 17 individual FOIA Public
Liaisons, 16 of which have oversight responsibility for FOIA Requester Service Centers and offices
within their respective organizations. For these entities, appeals are made to an authority within the
organization:
• Defense Information Systems Agency
• Department of the Army
• Defense Intelligence Agency
• Department of the Navy
• Department of the Air Force
• Defense Logistics Agency
• Defense Security Service
• Office of the Inspector General of the
Department of Defense
• Defense Threat Reduction Agency
• Defense Contract Audit Agency
• National Geospatial Intelligence
• Defense Contract Management
Agency
Agency
• National Reconnaissance Office
• Defense Commissary Agency
• National Security Agency/Central
• Defense Finance and Accounting
Security Service
Service
The Chief, Defense Freedom of Information Policy Office serves as Public Liaison for the following
organizations: 10
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•

Office of the Secretary of Defense/Joint Staff
National Guard Bureau
U.S. Northern Command
U.S. Pacific Command
U.S. Southern Command
U.S. Central Command
U.S. European Command
U.S. Joint Forces Command
U.S. Special Operations Command

For these entities, the Deputy Director of Administration and Management, Office of the Secretary of Defense, serves
as the appellate authority
10

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FOIA Requestor Centers. Each Public Liaison previously mentioned oversees at least one FOIA
Requester Service Center. These centers are the primary offices to which FOIA requesters can send
their FOIA requests. Some of the aforementioned Components, such as the Defense Intelligence
Agency, have only one FOIA Requester Service Center. However, others, such as the Departments
of the Army, Navy and Air Force, have many FOIA Requester Service Centers around the world.
When a FOIA Requester Service Center receives a FOIA request, first it is analyzed to see if it
conforms to FOIA and agency regulations, and if it does, whether it is considered a perfected
request. Next, each Requester Service Center determines the staff office within the Component that
would most likely have responsive documents, and tasks that specific office to find and review them.
Once reviews are complete, a response is sent to the requester with any number of possible answers.
The response could provide the requester the documents requested; documents requested with
some information redacted; deny release of documents in their entirety; an explanation that the
requested documents were not located; or an explanation that the documents were sent to another
agency or Department Component for review.
Backlog Reduction. Overall, the Department is improving its capacity to analyze, coordinate and
respond to requests in a timely manner. The Department is in the third year of a five year
improvement plan which already reduced backlogs by a significant percentage and quantity. The
improvement plan was in response to the Office of Information and Privacy, Department of Justice
memorandum implementing Executive Order 13392. Our goals are outlined in our FOIA Backlog
Reduction Plan FY 2007, and supplemented by our FOIA Backlog Reduction Plan FY 2008. The
plan was dependent on funding changes commencing with the FY 2008 budget. Included in the
plan is a five year budget to fully support implementation. FY 2008 amendments to the plan
included significant milestones based on increased funding provided during that fiscal year. With
increased funding, additional manpower slots and training initiatives, we remain substantially on
schedule to consistently reduce the year to year backlog in both initial requests and appeals.
The Departmentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s FOIA Reduction Plan, dated June 14, 2006 and available at
http://www.dod.mil/pubs/foi/FOIA_improvement_plan.pdf, outlines the findings of a
comprehensive survey of the Departmentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s FOIA operations. Positive items included the FOIA
staff being motivated and knowledgeable; the process was sound, but had inconsistent information
technology support; customers found our response times were generally in line with their experience
at other Federal Agencies; and, the backlog was primarily in Requester Service Centers with the most
complex and sensitive cases. Negative items included inconsistent staffing levels in relation to
volume, complexity and sensitivity; senior organization leaders insufficiently aware of FOIA and
statutory requirements; job series and grade structure was poorly standardized; inadequate FOIA
training for Action Officers and Subject Matter Experts who consult on FOIA cases;
standardization of FOIA Web sites to consistently provide the public resources and access; and a
lack of resources to clear the backlog.
The plan includes both long term and surge funding. Surge funding focused on a two year effort to
reduce backlogs in the most affected Requester Service Centers. The surge effort is winding down
in calendar year 2010. Most targeted offices reduced their backlog in a methodical, sustainable
manner which resulted in process improvements and should be maintainable going forward. The
Department has called for, and has so far received, steadily increasing resources to sustain gains
made and continue to improve.
Responsive actions are discussed in much greater detail in the Chief FOIA Officer report.
Highlights include increasing FOIA professionals (Full Time and Full Time Equivalents), increasing
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emphasis on professional development through training, increasing focus on training non-FOIA
reviewers and consultants during Action Officer initial training, increasing continuing training
including refresher courses on the Web, increasing information technology support for case
management and document management, vastly improved presence on the Web to present
information already released and a serious increase in senior leaders involvement.
In accordance with the Open Government Directive, the Defense Freedom of Information Policy
Office tasked Components with significant backlogs to identify required milestones. Affected
Components include: the Office of the Secretary of Defense/Joint Staff, the Departments of the
Army, Navy, and Air Force, U.S. Central Command, U.S. Southern Command, U.S. Special
Operations Command, the Defense Information Systems Agency, the Defense Intelligence Agency,
the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, the National Reconnaissance Office and the National
Security Agency. Plans with Milestones are posted at: http://www.dod.mil/pubs/foi/dfoipo/.
CONGRESSIONAL REQUESTS FOR INFORMATION
The Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Legislative Affairs is responsible for
coordinating requests for information from Congress.
The homepage can be found at http://la.defense.gov/, and includes a general description of how
the office functions and administers legislative affairs for the Department with Congress and the
White House. The office is continuing to improve the Web site within the bounds of the
Department’s security regulations.
Key documents describing the Department’s processes for handling congressional requests for
information include:
•

Department of Defense Directive 5142.01, “Assistant Secretary of Defense for Legislative
Affairs (ASD(LA)),” available at
http://www.dtic.mil/whs/directives/corres/pdf/514201p.pdf.

•

Department of Defense Instruction 5400.04, “Provision of Information to Congress,”
available at http://www.dtic.mil/whs/directives/corres/pdf/540004p.pdf.

DECLASSIFICATION OF DEPARTMENT INFORMATION
Background. The Department is the single largest declassifying organization (in terms of number of
pages released) in the federal government. Each one of the Department’s Components 11 maintains
its own program to meet declassification timelines for executing automatic and mandatory
declassification reviews delineated in President Obama’s December 2009 Executive Order 13526,
“Classified National Security Information” (document available at
http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2010/pdf/E9-31418.pdf). The Department adopts a framework of
centralized oversight with decentralized execution of declassification activities across the

11

See footnote 9 for more information of the Department’s organizational structure

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Department. This allows for a risk-based approach to balancing the imperatives of public
transparency and protection of national security.
National Declassification Center. To facilitate declassification and open government, the Department
strongly supports the National Declassification Center created by the President’s Executive Order.
The Department provides business process reengineering expertise to the National Archives and
Records Administration who, along with a team of experts from across the federal government, are
dedicated to the retirement and release to the public of over 400 million pages of records now held
at Archive’s College Park, Maryland facility. Likewise, these efforts will serve to modernize the
overall declassification system. The Department will work with the National Archives and Records
Administration to ensure information regarding activities of the new National Declassification
Center are made available through appropriate Web-enabled environments to include Data.gov.
More information on the Center can be found at http://www.archives.gov/declassification/.
Department of Defense Joint Referral Center. To kickstart our involvement with the National
Declassification Center, the Department established a Joint Referral Center. This element serves as
an adjunct to the National Declassification Center where Department of Defense Components may
jointly pilot new business processes and technologies to streamline and standardize how we manage
referrals in the declassification process.
Summary. Our declassification approach includes:
•

Supporting structured reviews within the business process reengineering effort to
standardize declassification processes and ensure they are optimized for future operations;

•

Establishing a capability for prioritizing information that is informed by the National
Archives and Records Administration outreach to, and interface with, the public interest
declassification community and the American people;

•

Establishing the Department of Defense Joint Referral Center, to ensure a central
mechanism for rapid coordination across all Department Components to clear permanently
valuable records slated for declassification;

•

Collaborating closely with the National Archives and Records Administration on their
National Declassification Center Strategic Communications campaign, including providing
essential content and articles for their Web site; and

Background. The Federal eRulemaking initiative facilitates public participation in the federal
regulatory process by improving the public's ability to find, view, understand and comment on
federal regulatory actions and rulemaking materials. The initiative improves access to, and quality of,
the rulemaking process for individuals, businesses and other government entities while streamlining
and increasing efficiency of internal agency processes. Launched in 2003, Regulations.gov is

12

The current version is available at http://www.dtic.mil/whs/directives/corres/pdf/520001r.pdf

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eRulemaking’s public-interfacing Web site providing citizens, small businesses, corporations, civic
organizations and all levels of government with one-stop, Internet access to view, download and
submit comments on federal rules and notices.
Federal Docket Management System. In September 2005, the Federal eRulemaking Program
Management Office, the Department of Defense and other federal partners launched a more
advanced system, the Federal Docket Management System, which vastly expanded public access to
regulatory documents and the rulemaking process by providing the Department and other Federal
Agencies better internal docket management and the ability to publicly post all relevant documents
for any proposed regulatory action (e.g., Federal Register documents, supporting analyses and public
comments). Our Department and other participating federal entities use the system for functions
including: role-based access control; configurable workflow management; full text search; e-mail
notifications; electronic incorporation of digitized paper documents; managing rulemaking and nonrulemaking documents and processes; distributing workload across staff; tracking docket
management performance; and eventually improving document storage and management, reducing
paper storage needs and lowering costs.
Department of Defense as a Leader. The Department of Defense was one of the charter Federal
Agencies which actively funds (since 2003) and participates in development and implementation of
the eRulemaking initiative and Federal Docket Management System. We implemented the Federal
Docket Management System on December 30, 2005. Department personnel actively participate in
the government-wide tiered governance structure (Executive Committee and Advisory Board), as
well as a number of functional working groups, such as change control, budget and usability. We
continue to fund the program and participate in improving the application.
Public Access. It is Departmental policy to make regulatory dockets electronically accessible and
searchable, and to allow for electronic submission of comments using Regulations.gov, as part of
our implementation of the E-Government Act of 2002. Department administrators establish
regulatory dockets for posting rules and other supporting materials on the Regulations.gov Web site
to enable the public to comment electronically. All public comments submitted electronically, or by
mail, are posted to the appropriate regulatory docket on the site. In addition to rulemakings, the
Department posts and accepts public comment on Federal Register notices, such as Information
Collection Requests under the Paperwork Reduction Act and Privacy Act notices. Participation by
the Department in this important initiative provides transparency and public access in developing
regulations, as well as promoting a more efficient regulatory process within the Department of
Defense.
RECOVERY.GOV
Background. The Office of Management and Budget Memorandum 09-10, “Initial Implementing
Guidance for the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009”13 provided a framework for
planning, reporting and documenting spending in a new way. It stated that “…the administration is
committed to investing Recovery Act dollars with an unprecedented level of transparency and
accountability so Americans know where their tax dollars are going and how they are being spent.”
The guidance went on to define requirements which agencies should implement to be more
transparent, including establishment of a Web site for the public allowing citizens to hold the
government accountable.

13

Copy available at http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/assets/memoranda_fy2009/m09-10.pdf

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At the Department. The Department has worked to meet or exceed transparency requirements of the
Act. We established a site devoted exclusively to the Recovery Act at www.defense.gov/recovery,
and ensured it can be accessed from the Department’s main Web site. Through this site, the
Department is able to provide up to date information to the public on the use of the Department’s
Recovery Act funds. The site includes:
•

Pictures of projects being performed throughout the country.

•

Project plan submissions and updates, including new projects funded through cost savings
from previously announced projects.

•

Weekly financial activity reports detailing the amount of obligations and outlays by
appropriation and an explanation of activities performed during the week.

•

Communication with lobbyists.

•

Contract opportunities including a link to the www.fbo.gov Web site where individuals are
able to apply for federal business opportunities, a guide to Department contracting
opportunities and a listing of projects that have not yet been awarded.

In addition, the site highlights the Recovery Act-supported Homeowners Assistance Program, which
was established to assist qualified service members and Department of Defense civilians who face
financial loss in selling a primary residence during a move.
USASPENDING.GOV
Background. The Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006 established the
requirement for the Office of Management and Budget to establish a single searchable Web site for
federal spending data at USASpending.gov. Beginning with data from FY 2007, the site includes
certain identification award data for the following types of federal awards: contracts (including
purchase orders and task/delivery orders), grants and cooperative agreements (and other forms of
financial assistance), subcontracts, subgrants and loans. 14
Contracting Data. To comply with requirements for contract data reporting, the Department joined
other Federal Agencies in leveraging an existing government-wide contract reporting system, the
Federal Procurement Data System, using its framework to provide USASpending.gov data already
being reported. This allowed the contracting community to be able to comply quickly with Act
timeframes. Awarded contract actions are reported daily to the Federal Procurement Data System
and then added to the publicly-available USASpending.gov after a 90-day delay to ensure security of
current and imminent military operations. With a single exception, all required USASpending.gov
data fields are reported via this mechanism. The “program source,” which the Office of
Management and Budget defines as the Treasury Account Symbol, is not reported with the
exception of Recovery Act related actions, which use internal architecture designed to meet the
Recovery Act’s specific requirements. In the future, the Department will expand use of that

Additional general information and frequently asked questions about the USASpending.gov website can be found at
http://www.usaspending.gov/faq.php

14

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Recovery Act-focused architecture to satisfy remaining gaps in reporting of the “program source”
for all contracts. 15
Grants and Cooperative Agreements. Department data on USASpending.gov for this category is also
provided through leveraging an existing system. In this case, the Department was already collecting
much of the required data for submission to the Federal Assistance Award Data System. For
USASpending.gov, we added on additional required data elements and were able to comply quickly
with requirements for the site.
Loans. The Department has a relatively small amount of funds awarded through loans. To report
this data to USASpending.gov, the Department’s Comptroller provides required information
periodically through a new report.
Subcontracts and Subgrants. Subcontracts and subgrants provide the Department, and the rest of the
federal government, with an additional opportunity to make available information to
USASpending.gov. As with the aforementioned contracts and grants solutions, we are joining with
other Federal Agencies in plans to leverage existing reporting systems to meet requirements of the
USASpending.gov Web site. For subcontracts, a new module of the Electronic Subcontract
Reporting System was developed to allow prime contractors to report they awarded subcontracts.
For subgrants, the federal grant community is exploring the capability of leveraging the existing
FederalReporting.gov Web site, used for Recovery Act reporting. Both of these efforts require
federal regulations and instructions be updated to require prime contractors and awardees to
accomplish required reporting before we can, in turn, submit data to USASpending.gov. As such,
timeframes for implementation are not fully known at this time.
The Future. As additional reporting requirements are identified for USASpending.gov, the
Department will work with the Office of Management and Budget to establish the most efficient
mechanism to provide required data.
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (IT) DASHBOARD
Background. The Department has a robust set of portfolio management processes and reviews that
oversee and track its major information technology programs at multiple points throughout their life
cycle to include requirements development, through acquisition/procurement; to fielding and
support. The Department believes the Office of Management and Budget’s IT Dashboard is an
important visibility and transparency tool which provides the Office of Management and Budget,
Congress, the media and the public insight into Departmental information technology investment
priorities and status of projects. Through the IT Dashboard, the Department provides detailed
status, spending, budget, contracting and evaluation data for more than 60 major information
technology investments. These projects include major fixed base and battlespace information
technology infrastructure initiatives, as well as important business and core mission information
technology (e.g., command and control software).
The Future. We will continue to work closely with the Office of Management and Budget and other
Federal Agencies to improve the Dashboard. For example, in March 2010, for the first time, we
began to automatically update and populate data via XML. By implementing changes in our internal
processes, requirements and automated tools, we are establishing the capability to update and report
Additionally, starting in Q3FY10, the Department will begin to report Other Transactions for Prototypes to the
Federal Procurement Data System, which will then also be available for USASpending.gov. “Other Transactions for
Prototypes” are a different, non-contract form of transactions available specifically for certain research projects.

15

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key information to the Office of Management and Budget as major program
reviews/milestones/events occur rather than the current semi-annual data collection and reporting.
We will to continue to work with the Office of Management and Budget to ensure the most
appropriate, useful and accurate data is provided to the public in the Dashboard and that its utility
continues to be enhanced. For example, we believe extending visibility across the entire investment
life cycle (i.e., not just focusing in-depth on additional acquisition execution data), and creating in the
process a common taxonomy spanning all phases, would provide important context to
understanding these investments thus enabling better alignment with existing Office of Management
and Budget processes for evaluating vision (architecture), planning, budgeting, execution and
performance.

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IN DEPTH: COLLABORATION
These more formal tools and platforms are in addition to the increasing use of social media to
promote open communication and idea sharing as previously discussed.
MAJOR COLLABORATION TOOLS
Organizations in the Department of Defense community use a variety of collaboration platforms,
including:
INTELINK
This platform provides access to authorized users across the Department and other Agencies to
SharePoint collaboration tools, instant messaging and Intelipedia, a wiki-based collaboration and
information sharing tool.
DEFENSE CONNECT ONLINE
This tool provides Web conferencing (to include audio, video, chat, instant messaging, screen
sharing etc.) and chat capabilities for users across the Department enterprise. Defense Connect
Online is composed of two commercial tools and a custom portal for access. Adobe Connect is the
Web conferencing application and Jabber is the XMPP secure chat service and client.
VARIOUS SERVICE AND COMMAND-CENTRIC PLATFORMS
Each of the Military Services maintains a variety of collaboration platforms and tools specific to
their particular needs and operations. These include Defense Knowledge Online, Army Knowledge
Online, Navy Knowledge Online, MarineNet and Air Force Knowledge.
DEFENSE COLLABORATION SERVICE
The new Defense Collaboration Service will take the place of Defense Connect Online and many of
the individual systems being used at different commands and Department organizations. Migration
is already underway and projected to be complete in the next several years. The new system will
provide a standard platform across the Department including chat, video and other collaboration
tools. The long-term goal is to have all Departmental collaboration tools, capabilities and activities
evolve to be based on common published enterprise standards; interoperable across the variety of
internet protocol based communication environments.
THE WIKI APPROACH
Department organizations are also adopting wiki-style approaches for a variety of subject areas.
These include:
DODTECHIPEDIA
Launched in 2008 by the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics,
DoDTechipedia is an initiative of the Defense Technical Information Center, at the direction of the
Director of Defense Research and Engineering. A Department-wide scientific and technical wiki,
DoDTechipedia is designed to increase communication and collaboration among Department
scientists, engineers, program managers and operational Warfighters. This tool enables Department
personnel to collaborate on technological solutions, reduce costs, add capability and avoid

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duplication. DoDTechipedia will aid in rapid development of technology and discovery of
innovative solutions to meet critical capability needs and gaps. A version allowing collaboration
with commercial partners is planned for the future.
ACQUIPEDIA
Launched in 2008, ACQuipedia is a wiki-based collaborative tool for the defense acquisition
community, operated by the Defense Acquisition University. ACQuipedia serves as an online
encyclopedia of common defense acquisition topics. Each topic is identified as an article; each
article contains a definition, a brief narrative providing context, and includes links to the most
pertinent policy, guidance, tools, practices and training that further augment understanding and
expand depth. At its essence, ACQuipedia provides the acquisition workforce with quick access to
information in a succinct and digestible format. Article content aggregates the most relevant
references and learning assets to narrowly focus users and quickly provide high value content.
WIKIFIED ARMY FIELD GUIDE
Army Field Manuals (or “Army Tactics, Techniques, and Procedures”) instruct Soldiers on all
aspects of Army life. As the battlefield changes rapidly, field manuals must keep pace. Under the
traditional process – in which a select few were charged with drafting and updating field manuals –
manuals often failed to reflect the latest knowledge of Soldiers on the ground.
Using the same free software behind Wikipedia, the Army’s “wikified” field manuals invite military
personnel - from private to general - to collaboratively update the Army Tactics, Techniques and
Procedures Manuals in real time. In so doing, the Army provides a secure means for battle-tested
Soldiers to share their experience and advice from the field. Wikified Army Field Manuals ensure
the men and women who serve our Nation have access to the best possible information when they
need it.
COLLABORATION IN ACTION
SPOTLIGHT: HAITI EARTHQUAKE RELIEF
When a devastating earthquake hit Haiti on the afternoon of January 12, 2010, governments and
organizations across the globe immediately mounted an extensive rescue and relief effort. In
addition to providing vital airlift and medical assistance, the Department of Defense played a key
role in enabling the many different entities involved to rapidly share information and coordinate
their efforts. Within a day of the earthquake, the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) and
the US Southern Command (SOUTHCOM), which has geographic responsibility for Haiti, quickly
activated collaboration platforms that had been in a test phase. This swift decision rapidly made
available a robust capacity that dramatically aided relief efforts.
The Transnational Information Sharing Cooperation (TISC) tool was brought from a test status to
an operational status almost immediately, and within another day, the related All Partners Access
Network (APAN) were quickly opened up to all governmental and non-governmental groups
involved in relief efforts. Within days over 1,700 organizations and individuals – representing
various military units, non-governmental organizations and other entities – were using the system to
coordinate their work.
The platform includes easy-to-use wikis, chat rooms, blogs, and calendaring, file-sharing and other
tools to share information and coordinate massive undertakings like disaster relief. TISC and APAN

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clearly demonstrated the power of such a versatile platform to be effectively utilized in an urgent
new situation almost immediately, well before more traditional organizational and informationsharing systems can be put into place.
The system was first developed at the US Pacific Command (PACOM) as an online community in
which authorized users both inside and outside the US military could share information. Lessons
learned from its use in Haiti earlier this year will be used to continue to refine the system.
SOCIAL MEDIA POLICY DEVELOPMENT
The Office of the DoD CIO assembled a community of 100+ internal stakeholders via an Intelinkbased SharePoint community implementation to participate in creation of the Internet-based
Capabilities Directive-Type Memorandum released in February 2010, which “…establishes DoD
policy and assigns responsibilities for responsible and effective use of Internet-based capabilities,
including social networking services.”16
NAVAL UNDERSEA WARFARE CENTER TRAINING
The Naval Undersea Warfare Center built a robust virtual campus in Second Life enabling 500 users
at a time to control actual tactical hardware and software via video-network.
NAVY LEGAL COMMUNITY
Navy’s Office of General Counsel developed “OGC Online,” a collaborative forum for the
Department of the Navy legal community to share information, network and provide a repository
for collective knowledge.
PATHS TOWARD INNOVATION
DARPA TRANSFORMATIVE APPS
DARPA has a long history of being at the forefront of technological innovation, and the agency is
now dedicating considerable resources towards a program called “Transformative Apps.” The goal
of Transformative Apps is to place the right mobile software applications (“apps”) into the hands of
Warfighters as they are needed. As a result of this program, a diverse array of apps of national
security relevance will be realized using a new development and acquisition process, ensuring that
technology reaches the Warfighter while it is still innovative and advanced.
A central military apps marketplace will be created to enable innovation to meet user needs based on
a direct collaboration between a vibrant and highly competitive development community and
involved communities of end-users. DARPA is seeking apps to fill a diverse set of needs, including
the tactical battlefield, humanitarian missions, disaster recovery, and other mission areas. Example
functionalities include command and control, reporting, mission planning, intelligence/
surveillance/reconnaissance, real-time collaboration, geospatial visualization, analysis, language
translation, training, and logistics tracking.
The program will address the technical, business, and operational challenges faced to make the new
capabilities rapidly available for use in the field. The end goal will result in handheld devices and

16

A copy of the document is available at http://www.dtic.mil/whs/directives/corres/pdf/DTM-09-026.pdf

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apps broadly available to the lowest military echelons, a user base comprising hundreds of thousands
of individuals. For more information, visit http://www.darpa.mil/tcto_solicitations.html.
DEFENSESOLUTIONS.GOV: WORKING WITH SMALL BUSINESSES
DefenseSolutions.gov is a portal through which innovative companies, entrepreneurs, and research
organizations can offer potential solutions to the Department of Defense. This portal, and the team
behind it, is designed to encourage companies that have never considered doing business with the
Department to participate.
APPS FOR THE ARMY
In March, 2010, the Army launched its “Apps for the Army” contest, which gives Army personnel
the opportunity to demonstrate their software development skills. “Apps for the Army”
applications may tackle any aspect of Army information technology - distributed training, battle
command, career management, continuing education or news and information distribution, for
example. Winners will receive monetary awards from a cash pool totaling $30,000, and the contest
will itself use the Army Knowledge Online collaboration system. More information can be found at
http://armylive.dodlive.mil/index.php/2010/03/apps-for-the-army-challenge-is-here/.

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IN DEPTH: FLAGSHIP INITIATIVE
STRATEGIC APPROACH
The Department of Defense and the Department of Veterans Affairs have already achieved a high
level of point-to-point interoperability between our health care systems, but this does not allow
capture of private sector data. The Virtual Lifetime Electronic Record will solve this by providing a
secure connection between the Department, Veterans Affairs and private sector providers. Sharing
data electronically through the Virtual Lifetime Electronic Record approach will be achievable more
quickly than developing a single system, and the solution will be viable throughout the health care
community.
A joint strategy for data sharing is the most effective use of resources and avoids obsolescence as
electronic health record systems continue to modernize. It will provide information needed to
deliver the highest quality of care, and reduce medical errors and administrative mistakes. The
Department and Veterans Affairs need access to private sector information to optimize care,
improve efficiency and create a true lifetime electronic health care record for our service members
and veterans.
The Departments’ joint approach to the Virtual Lifetime Electronic Record is not to establish a large
acquisition program, but rather to define and implement a strategy to share data across existing
programs. Building a single Department of Defense/Veterans Affairs medical system would be an
enormous undertaking requiring years of analysis, discussions and change management activities that
would be extremely challenging. The Department and Veterans Affairs share data today much
better than any two medical systems anywhere – and we are continuing to improve that sharing. To
refocus resources on development of a single system would not allow us to sustain the progress we
are already making.
COLLABORATION EFFORTS TO DATE
Since 2001, the Department has provided Veterans Affairs with one-way historic information
through the Federal Health Information Exchange when a service member separates from the
Service. For each separated service member, the Department sends over a dozen categories of
information, including standard ambulatory data, laboratory results, radiology reports, outpatient
pharmacy data and allergy information. As of December 2009, using the Federal Health
Information Exchange, the Department transmitted health data on more than five million retired or
discharged service members with data dating back to 1989. Approximately 1.8 million of these
individuals have presented to Veterans Affairs for care, treatment or claims determination. This
number grows as health information on recently separated service members is extracted and
transferred to Veterans Affairs on a monthly basis.
For shared patients being treated by both the Department and Veterans Affairs, the Departments
use the jointly developed Bidirectional Health Information Exchange system implemented in 2004.
Using Bidirectional Health Information Exchange, the Department and Veterans Affairs clinicians
are able to access each other’s health data in real-time. Access to Department discharge summaries
is operational at some of the Department’s largest inpatient facilities representing approximately 62
percent of total inpatient beds. With efforts beginning just prior to 2004, the Bidirectional Health
Information Exchange has grown so that, as of December 2009, there are more than 3.5 million
shared patients, which includes 1.7 million patients not in the Federal Health Information Exchange

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repository, and over 173,300 Theater patients. Federal Health Information Exchange/Bidirectional
Health Information Exchange inquiries during 1st quarter FY 2010 averaged 60,500 per week.
Since 2006, the Department and Veterans Affairs have been sharing computable outpatient
pharmacy and allergy data through the interface between the Clinical Data Repository of the Armed
Forces Health Longitudinal Technology Application system, Department’s Electronic Health
Record, and the Veterans Affair’s Health Data Repository. This initiative integrates outpatient
pharmacy and medication allergy data for shared patients, which is viewable by providers in both
Departments. Built into this exchange is the capability for drug-to-drug and drug-to-allergy checks.
As of December 31, 2009, the Departments exchanged computable outpatient pharmacy and
medication allergy data on over 50,400 patients who receive healthcare from both systems.
GOVERNANCE
The Department and Veterans Affairs are committed to maintaining a leadership framework to
oversee and promote a successful partnership, institutionalize needed change and foster
collaboration to support service members and veterans in an open and transparent manner. The
Joint Executive Council institutionalizes sharing and collaboration across the Departments to ensure
efficient use of services and resources for delivery of health care and other authorized benefits.
Both Departments are already working together to improve access, quality, effectiveness and
efficiency of health care for service members, veterans and their families. Subject Matter Experts
from both Departments engage in this collaborative work on a regular basis through the Health
Executive Council and its working groups. The Health Executive Council oversees the cooperative
efforts of each Department’s health care organizations and supports mutually beneficial
opportunities to improve business practices; ensures high quality, cost effective health care services
for both the Department and Veterans Affairs beneficiaries; and facilitates opportunities to improve
resource utilization.
Established by the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008, the DoD/VA
Interagency Program Office sits between the two Departments, with a Congressional mandate to aid
in development and implementation of electronic health records that will improve the quality of
care, and quality of life, extended to our Nation’s service members and veterans. With more than 80
percent of the country’s electronic health records shared between the two Departments, the task of
the IPO is monumental. The office is an honest broker and a single point of accountability, tasked
with coordinating, overseeing and participating in the Departments’ efforts to share their vast
amounts of medical and administrative data.
The IPO will ensure progress made on this flagship initiative is sustainable, using its unique position
between the Department and Veterans Affairs to:
•

The IPO is assigned coordination and oversight duties for information sharing through its charter.
The IPO serves a critical function by helping to communicate, collaborate and coordinate in the
interagency space where the two Departments intersect.
One of the major roles of the IPO is to facilitate collaboration for interagency efforts. One way we
do this is through developing and maintaining a Web-based collaboration site for internal work
teams to share, plan, discuss and execute the phases of Virtual Lifetime Electronic Records.
PILOT EFFORT
A Virtual Lifetime Electronic Record proof of concept prototype and production pilot has already
successfully executed in San Diego, California between Veterans Affairs and a private sector
provider, Kaiser Permanente, using the Nationwide Health Information Network. This
implementation was a ground breaking and monumental shift toward improvement in health
information exchange, not only for our Federal Government, but for our entire nation.
The Department joined the Nationwide Health Information Network family on January 30, 2010.
The Department does not have shared patients with Kaiser Permanente because it is not a contract
provider for DoD in the San Diego area, but we were able to demonstrate the use of the NHIN to
exchange patient data. The Department and Veterans Affairs are now in the process of testing
capabilities to complete implementation, and are building adaptors to communicate through the
Nationwide Health Information Network with each other and private providers. The Nationwide
Health Information Network provides the ability to:
•

Find and retrieve healthcare information within and between health providers.

•

Deliver a summarized patient record to support patient care and to support the patient’s
health.

•

Match patients to their data without a national patient identifier.

•

Exchange information securely.

The Department and Veterans Affairs use of the Nationwide Health Information Network will help
drive and establish standards for health information exchange nationally. A standards-based
approach allows the government to be system agnostic, avoid obsolescence, promote competition,
lower costs and avoid pitfalls of a monolithic government system.
NEXT STEPS
On March 8, 2010, the Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs announced the next phase of
the Virtual Lifetime Electronic Record Health Communities Program. This initiative will further
expand upon the efforts in San Diego to improve care and services to our Nation’s heroes by
sharing health information using the Nationwide Health Information Network. In the
Virginia/Tidewater area of Southeastern Virginia, the two Departments will partner with private
sector providers. We selected this location as the next area to pilot due to its high concentration of
veterans, military retirees, members of the National Guard and Reserve, and active duty service
members and their dependents.
The Virginia/Tidewater pilot builds on the continuing success of the first pilot in San Diego with
Kaiser Permanente. The program, through policy and technology, places the highest priority on
patient privacy and data security. No exchange of information will occur without the appropriate

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permissions of the individual patients, and access to care will not be affected by a decision not to
participate.
Ultimately, it is the goal of both Departments to utilize lessons learned from the VLER pilot
programs to develop an extensible and scalable pilot that can be productized and implemented
nationally.

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THE PATH FORWARD
The Department of Defense is strongly committed to pursuing goals of the Open Government
Directive and sees this plan and its current work as a starting point from which to improve and
expand. As we discussed in detail throughout this document, there are a variety of ways already
available for the public to learn about activities and inner-workings of the Department and its over
three million uniformed and civilian personnel. In the coming months, we will continue to bring
together key officials from across the Department to formalize a governance structure and create
detailed procedures for an increased culture of transparency while protecting national security. We
are also committed to regularly evaluating our progress and making adjustments mid-course if
needed. As that process continues, we welcome comments and feedback from the public. Please
visit us at www.defense.gov/open for an electronic copy of this document, to leave comments and
for more resources related to the Open Government Directive at the Department of Defense.